


a shard of divinity

by Lumeha



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: ... that's it that's the fic ?, Established Relationship, M/M, Someone died but got better, The travelers are shards of the deities, no beta we die like men, or anxiety riddled authors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumeha/pseuds/Lumeha
Summary: “There is a god in you.”It is no longer a prayer ; just the simple truth. The ghost of a lost cause that he can see in Olberic’s eyes, the lost cause of a man who still struggle with what drives him, still in need of a helping hand to find his own path, breaks Cyrus heart a little more, now. Who guides a shard of a deity ?
Relationships: Cyrus Albright/Olberic Eisenberg
Kudos: 21





	a shard of divinity

“There... There is a god in you.”

Devotion is crackling through the words, weaved in a mangled prayer, a faith that has been lost ; his voice breaks around the edges. Cyrus fingers stop in the air, around his own words, his own throat, and so much hang in between them. Olberic should laugh off his strange words, or look at him like madness seized him, and he needs a small moment before he feels ready to face the knight’s reaction. 

He takes a deep breath, before he opens his eyes and raises them to watch Olberic’s face. 

There is only concern and sadness, there. This is more terrifying than the laugh he feared, he realizes, a shiver going down his neck. It has the bitter taste of acceptance, of refusing to fight against a truth bigger than it should be. He almost hoped it was a foolish train of thoughts, and here it comes all crashing down, in a way that twists his guts and squeezes his lungs. 

“There is a god in you.”

It is no longer a prayer ; just the simple truth. The ghost of a lost cause that he can see in Olberic’s eyes, the lost cause of a man who still struggle with what drives him, still in need of a helping hand to find his own path, breaks Cyrus heart a little more, now. Who guides a shard of a deity ?

“I thought…”

“It doesn’t change anything about me, Cyrus. “

“It doesn’t. But I thought I _lost you_. And I saw you gasping for air again when you should have been dead, when your throat had close and your heart stopped, and…”

_And I realized_ \- the words hang between them. 

_I realized so much_ , he wants to say, but can’t bring himself to tell. 

“Since when do you know, Olberic ?”

“I died, once. The day Hornburg fell, I died, only for my heart to beat again. I lost everything that day, even my life.” 

His flat tone tries to hide a pain that has all to do with death and painful loss. Cyrus’s hand curls around the strong shoulder of the fallen knight, the solid pillar of their group, cracked on the inside. He wants to do more, more than that, but they have boundaries, and his mind is racing, racing, trying to puts every little puzzle pieces in its place, trying to add new knowledge to how he views the world, trying...

“Would this explain…”

A gentle knock stops his words.

Behind the door, Ophilia appears and stops, her hand frozen on the handle, her gaze going from the knight to the scholar and back. She smiles sheepishly, unsure, and a silence stretches and stretches and stretches until she talks. 

“I thought… I apologize if I interrupt anything, sir Olberic, sir Cyrus.”

“You wanted to check how I was feeling ?”

“I… I have… experience with what I saw you go through, sir Olberic”

Her voice is so small, and her eyes so sad.

“I died. That night, in the inn, when the embers were stolen. And when I died… He spoke to me. Aelfric. Told me he needed me to go on. That I was…”

She can’t finish her sentence, her skin shaking - so pale and hurt by the memories of that night. The betrayal has lit a fire in the blood of her companions, but it has left her with a sad smile and painful heart. Nights have been spent with her, all of them by her side, all of them trying to soothe her, but her death ? They didn’t know about it. And maybe only Olberic and him know, now, and the thought is chilling. 

“A shard”, completes Cyrus. “That you are a shard, an incarnation of a part of his powers. Shards are incarnated to…”

“I see you know much about the topic, sir Cyrus.”

She is gentle, but her hands are hardly clenched on her arms, almost white knuckles bruising herself. Olberic gently takes her hands, her fingers lacking all strength against his, and she avoids their eyes. Her breath slows down, but there is sorrow in her eyes and her discreet frown. 

“I need to ask some questions to our companions. But you,” Cyrus says, pointing at Olberic, “please. Do not… do _that_ again. I know you expect me to want to study and get my curiosity up about it, but I am sure I can find more knowledge on the topic without you… doing… that again.

“Do you mean saving you ?”

“You know what I mean, Olberic”, a seriousness answering to the almost playful tone of the knight. 

When Cyrus leaves, Ophilia looks at the door. Her hands still shake against Olberic’s, but her expression melted into a soft warmth. 

“I am so glad we have the luck of traveling with you both, sir Olberic.”

There is something else she doesn’t say, that hangs between them. But her silent stays still and she takes back her hand, bowing lightly to thank him. 

“Please, if you need, call me. I will be glad to soothe any of your pain with my magic.”

“Do not worry, Ophilia. It was not painful. I had to save him.”

She smiles.

“So much love is beautiful.”


End file.
